Alpha's Ruin: He Betrayed Me, I'll Make Him Kneel

Chapter 34: Too Late To Cry

Rhea’s silver eyes blazed, a blinding light filling her irises as the room’s temperature plummeted.

"What the hell do you mean, he disappeared?" she demanded, the raw power in her voice vibrating the stone under her boots. "He was in your care! You were his aunt!"

"She’s lying!" River barked savagely, her claws tearing at their shared consciousness. "Let me out, Rhea! Let me out so I can rip the truth straight from her throat!"

Kat nodded frantically, swallowing hard as a fresh wave of tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. "I don’t know anything else, I swear," she whispered, her voice trembling. "We have no idea how he vanished. One night he was in his bed, and the next morning. The bed was empty."

Rhea’s heart sank into a hollow, freezing void.

Kat looked up, her bloodshot eyes wide with a manic desperation. "We think someone took him, but we couldn’t afford to launch a full pack-hunt because—" She paused, her jaw tightening as she shook her head slowly, swallowing the rest of the sentence.

"Bitch!" River howled in pure agony inside Rhea’s skull. "Backstabbing, deceitful liar!"

Rhea stared down at her sister, forcing the burning tears back into her throat. She locked her features into a dead-cold mask, her scent turning flat and lethal. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Well, little sister, I guess you will finally understand my pain when I tell you that I no longer have your son." She tilted her head, watching Kat wither. "Adam holds the boy now. And he holds the truth."

Kat’s eyes nearly popped from their sockets. The color completely drained from her face. "No. Please, no," she stammered, shaking her head in denial. "You should have protected him, Rhea! He is your blood!"

Rhea shrugged. "There is absolutely nothing I can do about that."

Kat clutched her chest, her gaze suddenly turning distant and haunted as the scent of her panic spiked, souring the air. "Adam hates me. He hates Kaleb. He hates our entire line for what we did," she wailed, rocking back and forth on the stone floor. "He will kill my boy. He will kill him to punish us!"

Rhea’s brows furrowed, her tactical mind instantly catching the slip. She stepped closer, her shadow falling heavily over Kat. "Hold on. What are you talking about? What does Adam know?"

Kat let out a bitter, wet laugh, looking up through her tangled hair. "You think you can trust Alpha Thorne, don’t you? You think he’s your savior." She sneered, a small, twisted smile curving her lips. "He knew everything, Rhea, but he never did a damn thing to stop it."

Rhea’s head spun, the room tilting as Kat’s words drilled into her skull. The memory of Adam’s grounding, cedarwood scent suddenly felt heavy, suffocating. "And why would I believe a word that comes out of your mouth?"

Kat caught the flicker of doubt in her eyes, her grin growing sharper. "You have no idea what you are—"

"You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into," Rhea cut in, her voice slicing through Kat’s taunt like a silver blade. She leaned down, her face inches from her sister’s. "If you want my help, if you ever want to see your pup breathing again, then you tell Kaleb to meet me by Eli’s empty grave."

"Kaleb will never go there!" Kat cried out, her voice echoing off the high beams. "You of all people know he is proud!"

Rhea paused on her heel, looking back over her shoulder. "Tell him that his boy will be there."

Kat wiped her face with the back of her hand and nodded frantically. "Thank you, Rhea," she whispered, her voice cracking with relief. "You always had a good heart. I knew I could trust my sister."

Rhea slowly turned around, the silver in her eyes swallowing her pupils until they looked like pools of liquid moonlight.

"You are speaking of a ghost, Kat," she said, her voice terrifying. "You know absolutely nothing about the woman standing in front of you. When Kaleb put that knife in me, the old Rhea died. I did not wake up the same. Do not make the mistake of assuming you know me."

Kat swallowed hard, her heart skipping a beat against her ribs as she shrank back from the sheer dominance radiating off her sister.

"And I know," Rhea continued, her tone shifting into something deeply personal and agonizing, "that the arrow that pierced me on the battlefield was never poisoned." She stepped forward, her boots clicking softly. "Don’t bother denying it."

Kat’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping. "Believe me, Rhea," she stammered, her hands flying up in defense. "It was never my intention to poison you."

Rhea’s shoulders sagged just a fraction, a phantom ache tearing through her old wound. She shook her head, the betrayal cutting deeper than any silver blade. "So it is true," she whispered, her voice thick with disgust. "The poison that nearly killed me was your doing. It was all your fault."

"Oh, that worthless parasite!" River roared aggressively, her wolf claws thrashing against Rhea’s ribs. "Let me tear her apart! Let me paint these walls with her blood!"

Kat’s face went white, but she said nothing. And that silence was enough confirmation.

"Please, just don’t take my sins out on my innocent son," Kat begged, reaching out but not daring to touch her.

Rhea’s brows drew together in a dark, twisted frown. The sickness in her stomach turned into a cold hunger for vengeance. "Why, Kat? Why did you want to take my life?"

"It was the only way I could have Kaleb!" Kat cried, her tone heavy with a pathetic, desperate regret. "You were the Alpha Luna! You were the strategist! You would have torn my throat out if you knew we were sleeping together behind your back! I had to do it so I could have—"

Rhea lifted a single, commanding hand, cutting her off instantly. "Enough!" she snapped, the word hitting the room like a thunderclap. "You know exactly what you need to do. Get Kaleb to the grave. Do that, and you will see your boy again."

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed toward the exit, her mind fracturing into a thousand chaotic pieces. Her own blood sister had fed her the poison that almost ended her. And the Alpha who had pulled her from the dirt knew she was going to be put in it.

"I’m sorry, Rhea!" Kat screamed after her, her voice bouncing off the granite walls. "Please, don’t let Adam hurt my baby!"

The words made Rhea freeze at the threshold. Her jaw hardened into stone, her fists clenching so hard her claws threatened to pierce her palms. She looked back one last time, her silver eyes flashing with pure venom. freeweɓnovel.cøm

"You weren’t sorry when you stole my mate," Rhea spat. "You weren’t sorry when you poisoned my son, or when you tried to kill me. Now, it is far too late for apologies."

Before Kat could choke out another plea, Rhea slammed the heavy oak doors open and stormed out of the council room, the wood colliding with a deafening thud that echoed through the entire wing.

"Rhea, please!" Kat’s distant cries faded into the background, but Rhea didn’t slow her stride. She kept walking, her cloak billowing behind her like smoke.

Being the merciful Luna had gotten her a shallow grave and an empty cradle. Now, she was done being kind. Someone had stolen her son. Someone had buried the truth.

And before this was over, she would drag every secret into the light, no matter how much blood it cost.